Tugrul Keskin, PhD
Whichever nomenclature is used to describe the study of black peoples
and the African Diaspora – whether Africana, Black or
African Studies – the approach that is taken is
critically important to academia in terms of its potential to provide a
direct
response and challenge to the intrinsic Eurocentric
and Orientalist bias of the US educational system. Unlike other area
and
ethnic studies disciplines, this field was
established as a link between the community and academia. However, in
recent history,
approaches have become polarized and the field has
lost momentum as a consequence of arbitrary boundaries and politicized
knowledge. In this article, the Orientalist
perspective and Afro-centric knowledge in Black Studies are examined in
their
historical and political context. This analysis
culminates in a proposed approach to use the Sociology of Africa as a
new
model for Afro-centric knowledge and teaching in
this field.
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